Smart Enough To Lie
by Sheetal
Summary: Dana has to lie to her exboyfriend, but doesn't realize her lie might turn into truth... DanaCody. This story is completed.
1. Prologue: When She Lies

**Title:** Smart Enough to Lie  
**Fandom:** Step by Step  
**Main characters:** Dana Foster/Cody Lambert  
**Genre:** general/romance  
**Rating:** suitable for kids (for now)  
**Summary:** Dana has to lie to her ex-boyfriend, but doesn't realize her lie might turn into truth  
**Betas:** The wonderful Alonso Fan and Rose Wilde Irish 

_**Prologue**_

It was one of those days when Dana wanted to kill all men again. She'd got dumped by her boyfriend a few days ago and on top of everything, JT kept annoying her all the time and she wasn't even able to insult him back properly. She thought a quiet Sunday morning in the coffee house would make her feel better, but she was awfully wrong. She ordered her drink and opened the book she'd been reading, and that was when a guy she'd wanted to throw off the tallest cliff walked in. He was closely followed by a blonde girl who looked a lot like Dana herself, only a few inches taller. The girl held the guy's hand and her laugh rang unpleasantly in Dana's ears.

Dana tried to hide behind her book and it worked for few minutes. Her plan was to quickly drink her coffee, still hidden behind her book, then leave the money on the table and leave. She herself couldn't believe how jealous she felt. Even though their relationship was over and of course she didn't love him anymore, she couldn't get over the fact he'd replaced her so quickly. The break-up was still eating her alive and there he was, holding hands with another girl, obviously all the days with Dana forgotten.

She pretended to read the book, but her eyes nervously followed the couple's every move. She watched them talking, touching each other's hands and laughing and she felt more and more sick. When she decided she couldn't handle it any more, she quickly jumped up, threw the money on the table, and stalked off. She had just reached the door when someone called her name and she froze.

"Dana!"

She turned slowly. The guy who had caused her lots of pain smiled at her, and she wanted to punch him in the face.

"Steven..." even though she wanted to scream. She wanted to back off when he walked towards her, but her legs suddenly felt like they weighed a few tons.

"I'd like you to meet someone. I know it's probably too soon, but we are friends, right?" He gently pushed his girlfriend forward, waiting for them to shake their hands.

"Candy," the girl chipped.

"Nice to meet you," Dana said, trying for her voice to sound neutral. After all, it wasn't the girl's fault he was a jerk.

"So, how are you doing, Dana?" Steven put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder as he spoke and Dana wondered if he missed her at all.

Dana quickly thought about plan B in her mind. She thought about not saying anything and just leaving, but that would mean he won. Before she could finish her plotting, the door to the coffee house opened and a tall guy walked in. The plan B was suddenly clear. She made a step towards him, grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to her.

"This is my new boyfriend," she smiled triumphantly. "Please, meet Cody."

Cody blinked a couple of times, and Dana wondered if he knew what to say. She kicked his leg, and understanding flooded his eyes.

"Hi, Cody," the couple said almost in unison, obviously surprised as everyone knew Dana had never liked Cody.

Dana noticed their faces; she didn't really want to explain people why she'd like Cody just out of the blue, so she pushed him out of the door that just opened as the new people walked in.

"Right, we have to go. Have a nice day," she said, and she followed him out.

_To Be Continued..._


	2. Part 1: When He Supports Her

**Author's notes:** Thank you for reading the first part and for your lovely responses. To answer your comments... I'll try to update often, but because I want my story to be betaread, I always need to wait for my betareaders to do the job ;) Also I do realize the chapters are quite short, but there is a reason for it. I wanted them short, because I wanted to keep the "sit-com" format where each scenes are kind of short. 

**Part 1**

They'd split on the street; Dana claimed she had to get something from the mall and made Cody go home and wait for her there. Cody did so happily; after all, what wouldn't he do for his Danaburger.

On the way home Dana even forgot about her ex. At the mall, she'd met an old friend and they'd spend a few hours chatting and shopping. Dana didn't even know where she'd found such passion for it.

She arrived home in a good mood. She opened the door, walked in and her mood dropped. Cody was sitting on the sofa in the living room, waiting for her. He looked different than he did normally; he didn't have that unmistakable smile on his face and his eyes looked sad.

Dana closed the door and took a step towards him when he finally looked at her and his face lit up. "Dana!"

"Uhm, hi, Cody," Dana was confused, but then this was Cody. You could expect anything from him.

"Look, you don't have to explain anything to me. I know you were only pretending and you know I'm your friend and I can help you when you need me," Cody said, leaving Dana speechless. In a way, she was glad he said it, as she started to find it harder and harder to push him away from her. "It felt good though... for those few minutes."

"I didn't want to use you, I'm sorry," Dana looked down at her feet.

"Haha, don't worry. I'll live," Cody jumped up from the sofa and playfully hit her arm. "How about a movie tonight? As friends."

"No, thanks, Cody," Dana smiled a little, "I really don't feel like going anywhere..."

Dana just wanted to go upstairs, but someone's "Oh, here you are!" made her turn. It was JT, holding a phone in his hand.

"I thought you were off. Oh sorry, you are always off," JT laughed.

"What's the matter, donkey? Did you need someone to show you how to press a few buttons?"

"Actually no. But a guy named Steven called. Since you weren't here, he left a message..."

"And?" Dana was impatient. Why did he have to annoy her? In fact, why did all guys have to annoy her?

"... I forgot." JT made a face.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. At least that's one less problem." Dana rolled her eyes and turned again to finally go up.

"Hey, wait, I remembered!" JT changed his mind. "He said 'Tell Dana I'm inviting her and her boyfriend to the movies. As a double date.' Uhm, Dana, you'd better go and catch that pooch that's running around this area, so you have someone to go there with."

"Very funny. I'm not going. Thank you."

Dana walked up. After she was sure JT left the living room, she ran down again.

"Cody, you have to go with me! I have to go there!"

"Haha... er... why?" Cody looked at her, confused.

"Because if I don't go, he'll know I don't have a boyfriend."

"Well, you don't," he remarked.

"Why thank you, Cody. I haven't noticed," Dana said sarcastically. "Come on, please. After all, you wanted to go out with me anyway, so now you have the chance to do so!"

Dana looked at him with the best puppy eyes she could make, knowing well he wouldn't be able to say no to her. And she was right. He could only agree.

_To Be Continued_


	3. Part 2: When They Play Games

**Author's notes:** Thanks for the nice words, Evelyn Knight :) I'm sorry I'm not updating as much as I would love to, but even though the story is already written, I don't want to post it unbetaread... this part is betaread by my lovely friend Alonso Fan 

**Part 2: When They Play Games**

On the way to movies Dana made sure Cody knew all details about this little game. He was only allowed to hold her hand and only when they'd see them. No more touching. Cody was alright with that, after all, holding hands was more that he could hope for.

Steven and Candy were waiting for them; well, they were more engaged in exploring each other's mouth cavities when Dana with Cody arrived and Dana suddenly felt sick of it. She grabbed Cody's hand and pulled him after her.

"Hello. Are we interrupting?" Dana spoke, trying to use as happiest smile as she could.

"Not at all, we were just a bit... bored," Steven explained with a wink and Candy giggled.

"Right," Dana wanted to roll her eyes, but managed to stop herself.

"Lets go then," Steven said and turned to leave, taking Candy with him.

"I really hate him, you know," Dana whispered to Cody before they walked inside the building after the couple.

Dana was forced to sit between Cody and Steven. She didn't even know what the movie was about because all she could hear was kissing sounds coming from her right and she could see the couple doing that from the corner of her eye. She didn't even mind when Cody placed his arm around her shoulder; at least it looked like they were a couple. She noticed Steven was watching her from time to time and she started to get nervous. She wasn't sure about Steven anymore; maybe he knew about her lie and now was trying to test her how far she could go. She couldn't handle it anymore; she stood up, pushed herself past Cody and stormed out of the hall.

She noticed Cody following her out like a little puppy and in a way, she was glad he was there with her because she felt like she would fall down soon. At least if she did, he would take her home. She must have looked pale too; she realized it when Cody took her around her shoulders and made her sit down.

"Dana, I don't think this is a good idea really," Cody shook his head as he knelt down in front of her.

Dana looked at him, but he wasn't even looking back, instead it looked like he was following some weird pattern on the wall behind her with his eyes.

"I think you should tell him the truth... or maybe I should leave now and you tell him we've broken up."

"No. We... I have to play along. I can't admit my defeat now. Not to him," Dana reached out and grabbed Cody's chin, forcing him to look right into her eyes. "You have to help me, Cody."

"I would love to, but you know me. I can't lie. When I do, people notice," Cody shrugged.

"Can you try? For me," Dana sounded desperate. She couldn't believe she kept begging Cody to pretend to be her boyfriend; she had never liked him, or at least she made everybody believe she didn't like him even though she did. After all, he was nice and funny even if he acted a bit dumb sometimes. "Please."

"Alright then, I'll try, but when I screw it up, don't kill me," Cody finally smiled and gently rubbed her shoulders.

"You are great," she cheered up, but then opened her eyes wide when she saw Steven and Candy walking out of the door and heading towards them. "Cody, I need you to do something now."

"Woah, dude, whatever you want," he laughed loudly.

"Kiss me," she said before she grabbed the front of his T shirt and pulled him closer to her.

Dana enjoyed the kiss. It wasn't a proper kiss, just lips pressed against each other for few seconds before they were interrupted, but she liked it. Also, it left Cody speechless, so she didn't have to worry he'd spill out her secret to anyone.

Her ex now looked even more shocked now; he just hastily said his goodbye and walked off which made Dana quite happy because deep inside she thought she'd won. At least this round.

_To Be Continued_


	4. Part 3: When The Lie Turns Into Truth

**Author's notes:** Thanks for the reviews! You keep me going :) Thank you again :)  
**Betaread** by my lovely friend -Alonso Fan- 

**Part 3: When The Lie Turns Into Truth**

A few days passed and Dana returned to her normal self. Cody seemed to be as normal as he could be. None of them mentioned the kiss, they didn't even talk about the day in the cinema at all. Dana thought everything was back to normal until she came home from school and ran into her sister.

"So Cody, hm?" Karen asked as soon as Dana closed the door to their room and nodded.

"What's with Cody?" Dana didn't get Karen's comment at first.

"Well, he is rated very high and lots of girls want him, so now your ratings jumped up as well. Good move."

Dana looked at her sister with open mouth, totally lost.

"Oh Dana, almost everybody in the school knows you are with Cody."

Now Dana opened her mouth even more before she sat down on her bed and covered her face with her hands.

"According to the most popular girls, Cody is a hottie. You know, if you wanted some privacy, you should have gone with Bob... or Ted," Karen shrugged.

"Ted? He is two years younger than I and he can't even tie his shoelaces properly," Dana remarked and shivered. Maybe she should be happy people thought she was with Cody after all.

"So, I just wanted to say... Enjoy your popular life now," Karen said and grabbed her purse before she walked out of the room.

"Oh great," Dana told to herself. "Just when I thought my life couldn't get worse."

She stood up and made her way to the driveway where Cody's van was parked, carefully avoiding everybody who could know. Luckily, JT was busy enough with annoying Mark and Al was probably out with her friends. Dana knocked on Cody's van and Cody immediately opened it, letting her in without saying a word. Dana climbed up and closed the door behind her. She sat down on Cody's water bed, but didn't say anything.

"Is everything alright?" Cody raised one of his eyebrows as he sat next to her, making the bed move up and down.

"They know..." Dana managed to say.

"Know what?"

"About us..." she whispered, suddenly feeling like crying.

"But there is nothing to know about," he threw his arms up to the air and laughed, but frowned when Dana looked at him, obviously upset, "Or is there?"

"Almost the whole school knows, well, thinks that we are...," she gulped and thought about a better word than love, "...an item."

Cody rested his head on his hand and scratched his head, "So, I think this is the best time for you to say we are not."

Dana ignored Cody's comment and started to think aloud.

"I think I only have two options. Option one... saying I lied, which I really wouldn't want to do. Option two... to get together with you for real..."

"Woah... not that I am complaining, but... I don't think it's a good idea to date someone who you don't like," Cody remarked. "You know, after those three years that I've tried to make you like me, I've already got the idea..."

"Cody... don't get me wrong, please, but I do like you. I always have, but there has always been something that kept me away from you. Maybe I was just stupid to push away a guy who still liked me after those years," she sighed and rested her back against the wall of the van. "I think if you asked me out now, I would say yes."

"So, would you come out with me, then?" Cody took the hint.

"I would," Dana smiled as she pushed herself off the wall to move closer to Cody.

"For real?"

"For real," she said and captured his lips with hers.

_To Be Continued_


	5. Part 4: Real Thing Is Too Complicated

**Author's notes: **Yup, of course Dana likes Cody... but the story is not finished yet ;) Thanks for reviews ;)  
**Betaread** by my lovely friend -Alonso Fan- 

** Part 4: When The Real Thing Is Too Complicated**

Dana returned back to the house after those few wonderful minutes she'd just spent with Cody; her head was flying up in the sky and her face shone with happiness. Carol was just preparing the dinner while Karen and Al were seated at the table, chatting about the latest gossips from the school.

"What are you smiling about?" Carol noticed Dana acted different than usual.

"New boyfriend," Karen stated and winked.

"Who is it?" Al asked, ready to learn more news.

"Haven't you heard about it? Dana is dating..." the name was muffled as Dana quickly placed her hand over Karen's mouth.

"Well, I don't think everybody really needs to know about my love life." Dana released Karen who immediately started to look for a mirror in her bag and fixing her make-up.

"Oh come on, we are sisters! Kind of. Is it the hot guy from the English class? Or the new French guy who likes weird music?" Al kept guessing, but Dana only rolled her eyes.

"You wouldn't guess it," Karen chuckled.

"How come Karen knows and I don't?" Al complained.

"Especially when _I_ don't know," Carol remarked and looked at Dana.

Dana felt trapped. She knew if she wouldn't tell them now, Karen would as soon as she left the room. She couldn't deny her feelings for Cody, but still it felt awkward to say it aloud when her family was around. She was just about to say something when the door opened and Cody walked in.

"Is dinner ready yet?" he asked and looked around.

Everybody in the room looked back at him. Dana pierced him with his eyes and Karen quietly giggled.

"Dude, what have I done?" Cody asked, obviously not getting the situation.

"Fine, you want to know who I am with?" Dana finally made up her mind and took a place next to Cody. She placed one arm around his waist and pointed at him with other. "I'm with him."

Carol put her hand over her heart and dramatically gasped and Al looked at Dana, her face showing a confusion while Karen continue her stupid giggling.

"And no, it's not a joke to shut you up," Dana added.

"Cody, what did you do to make her go with you?" Al finally smiled widely and snorted.

"We are together and that's all you need to know, thank you," Dana quickly said before anyone had a chance to say something stupid. She grabbed Cody's hand and pulled him after her out of the kitchen to the living room. The door behind them closed and she fell down on the sofa.

"This is harder then I thought it would be," she sighed and looked at Cody. "And as my boyfriend, you really should care a bit more about my feelings."

"Sorry," he said apologetically and sat down next to her. She cuddled against him, resting her head against his shoulder while he hugged her tightly.

_To Be Continued_


	6. Part 5: When She Thinks Too Much

**Author's notes: **Thank you for lovely feedback :) Carolina, sorry to disappoint you, but this story is not really about anyone's reactions... why didn't I think about it earlier? Duh! Anyway...  
**Author's note2:** I'm currently thinking about writing a new SBS story, but because this one is going to move to M rating, I'm looking for someone who wouldn't be disturbed by it to betaread it. Preferably English speaking native (as I'm not). If you'd like to give it a go, please email me at _sheetal.fanfics -at- g m a i l. c o m  
_**Betaread** by my lovely friend -Alonso Fan-

**Part 5: When She Thinks Too Much**

Dana had been with Cody officially for two weeks only and she was already getting sick of people teasing her all the time about him. Yes, Cody sometimes acted pretty dumb, but he was smart. He was the smartest one from the Lambert clan, even though that wasn't a very hard thing to be. But Cody was even smarter than Dana sometimes. Of course, people didn't see that. People only saw him as a strange guy living in a van, repairing motorbikes, playing blues on his guitar and using the word "dude" too often. They didn't see him like Dana did. She saw a very handsome guy who could make her feel happy, a guy who gave her compliments all the time and helped her with whatever she needed helping with.

When they were alone, she could just relax and melt into his embrace. They often just sat in the garden, watching the clouds in the sky and Dana felt like she had never felt before with any guy. With Cody, she could be sure his intentions were pure and she didn't need to play on something she wasn't.

People could be nasty though. They talked behind her back about her IQ dropping at least 50 points since she started dating him or the she would never finish University with him around. Now she knew how Cody felt before when she insulted him and she didn't like it. She didn't want people to do this to her and suddenly she had to think if the relationship with Cody was really worth it.

She asked Karen for advice, but all her sister cared about was people's looks, so naturally she advised her to keep Cody. But love was not about looks, if it was she thought Cody would never be with her in the first place, he would find himself some tall Barbie who'd fit him more. Dana knew she had to make up her mind and she had to do it herself.

A few days after her doubts had started, she was alone at home and she finally decided what to do. Everything since she had first told her ex boyfriend about Cody was a lie, so maybe she should continue with her lie and tell Cody she hadn't loved him after all, that she'd been just desperate, but now she could see that. Cody would go back to his motorbikes and his fooling around with JT and she would be back to her old self who was always the best in the school and who hated men. It would be best for both of them.

She just didn't know how to tell him. She thought about writing him a letter, but she couldn't do it when she remembered how he wrote her beautiful love letters when she'd got dumped right before Valentine's day once, just to cheer her up. Too many lovely memories flew through her mind and she felt sad about it. She couldn't believe she sank too low to kick out of her life a guy who cared about her as much as Cody did.

She kept telling herself it was the best thing as she walked out of the house towards Cody's van. Those words kept playing over and over again in her mind when Cody opened the door and invited her in. She could see a big flashing sign with the word "he is your mistake" in front of her eyes when he kissed her. She had to do it now or never.

"Cody, I have to tell you something..." Dana started. She could feel the tears, ready to fall down from her eyes as she continued. "I wasn't honest with you. I thought this could work, but I think it never will. Forgive me, but I have to end this..."

She stood up and jumped out of the van. She could feel Cody's eyes on her back, but she didn't turn around even though she really wanted. It was the best thing to do, there was no other way, she kept telling herself, but she knew she was just looking for excuses.

She ran to her room, fell on her bed and started to cry.

_____To Be Continued_


	7. Part 6: When The Love is Too Strong

**Author's notes:** I'm very sorry to make you wait this long for the next part... well, last part, but sadly my computer died a terrible death :( But now I'm back with... thank you for being with me till now and I hope you've enjoyed this story. One more time thank you for all your lovely comments... Hope to see you again sometimes :) Sadly nobody responded my plea for betareading the possible new story, so that one is hanging out in the air for now though...  
**Betaread** by my lovely friend -Alonso Fan- 

**Part 6: When The Love is Too Strong**

Dana felt crap for a week. She didn't feel like eating and she kept avoiding Cody as much as she could. She noticed Cody being depressed, but she tried ignoring it even though it was breaking her heart. She screwed up big time; she gave him a chance only to shatter all his hopes later. She knew she should listen to her siblings who were trying to talk to her about getting back together with him, but she thought he'd never forgive her. She knew he loved her with his whole heart, he'd do anything for her and she had basically used him.

She wouldn't care that much if he was just some random guy from school. She had to admit Cody had an important place in her life and she couldn't just erase him from it. She kept looking at the photo of them together secretly before she went to sleep, remembering all good times she'd spend with him. The day Cody arrived to live in the van at their driveway and their first date that she had agreed to go on with him to help him win a bet. The day when he rescued her from the hands of guys at the bar she went to or the guy at the bus station in Chicago. How he tried to get a serious job to impress her. All those little memories from the past flew through her mind and kept her awake at night.

She knew she wanted to be with him, but her lies had destroyed it all. She wanted to tell him how sorry she was and that she'd love to try again, but everytime she went close to his van, she panicked and ran away.

One night she was thirsty so she went downstairs to get something to drink and found Cody sitting at the table, looking at the wall. At first she wanted to go back up, but then she decided this was it. She couldn't always run away from her problems. She gently placed her hand on Cody's shoulder, but he didn't move.

"Cody...," she said quietly and waited for him to finally look at her face.

She sat down next to him. She noticed his eyes were missing those little sparks she always loved and his smile had faded away from his face when they had broken up and it had never came back.

She moved his hand to his face, carefully caressing his cheek, but he still didn't respond anyhow. Her hand dropped down on the table and she looked at it.

"Dana, I need someone who loves me back."

She heard him speaking; his voice was low and serious in the opposite of the usual cheerful speech.

"I thought I'd found a person who'd stand beside me no matter what, like I stood beside you."

His words pierced through her. She knew he was right; after all Cody was always right.

"I thought our relationship would at least stay in friendship, but I think that is not possible either. The best thing for me would be to leave."

"You can't leave." Dana looked up at him with tears in her eyes. She placed her hand over his, squeezing it gently. "I beg you, don't leave."

"Why? It's for the best."

"Stay. Please. With me. I need you." She wiped her face with her free hand.

"Another lie? You've broken my heart, Dana." He shook his head.

"I don't lie now. I didn't lie when I said I wanted to be with you, but I couldn't stand people making fun of us. I lied when I said I didn't want to be with you anymore. That was a lie. Because I do."

She noticed a little spark returning in his eyes as he smiled a little.

"What would I do without you, dude?" She tried to enlighten the situation with impressing his own speech and it worked. He smiled widely and freed his hands from hers, only to put them on her face.

"I don't know that and I don't want to test it. My Danaburger. Oh I have to find the cheese later." He moved towards her and kissed her on the lips.

_:: the end ::  
_


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